London tube strike may cause delays for Reading commuters

Reading commuters heading to the capital on Thursday and Friday could face severe delays and disruption on the underground.

Tube drivers, who are members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, will begin a 24-hour walkout at 9.30pm on Thursday, September 15.

There will be no services on the Hammersmith and City line, and a very limited service on the Circle line.

This means other tube services stopping at London Paddington are likely to be more crowded that usual.

Steve White, operations director for London Underground, said: “We are speaking to the RMT union to try to resolve the issues without disruption to our customers.

"But if the strike does go ahead, customers are advised to check our real-time travel information.

"All other tube lines and other TfL (Transport for London) services will be operating as normal and we’ll be making sure that everyone has the information they need to re-plan their journeys if necessary.”

Waiting for a tube at Earls Court station

The RMT says the dispute is with TfL is "over heavy handed and aggressive management" and "a flagrant disregard for agreed policies and procedures".

Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said: "This dispute is about the basic issues of protecting working conditions of our members and defending agreements from attempts to drive a coach and horses through them.

"The management are out of control and the anger at their failure to follow procedures has boiled over.

"This breakdown in industrial relations should never have been allowed to happen and if agreements and processes had been adhered to from the off the package of issues at the heart of the dispute could have been resolved through the joint machinery."

He added: "The union remains available for serious and meaningful talks."